John the Baptist

One of the more intriguing characters in the Gospels, to me anyway, is John the Baptist.  This past advent three of the four Gospel readings involved John, and due to the cycle, all readings were from Matthew.  Having read some articles about the Gospel readings, and listened to homilies, one common thread exists about John the Baptist, as one person said, "John is not one you would invite over for dinner."

Birth location of John the Baptist
St John the Baptist Church, Ein Karem

One may not want him as a dinner guest, but people still seem mesmerized by him.  In way of background we know that John was born to Zechariah, and Elizabeth, both of whom can trace their lineage to Aaron.  We also know that Zechariah was a priest at the temple, so I would say he was a man of decent position within the Jewish community.  When I visited the Holy Land over six years ago, I recall hearing that John's parents had two dwellings in/near Ein Karem, a dwelling in the valley, their normal residence, and a summer place in the hills.  Each was probably more like a cave.  By the measures of the time, given two homes, even if mainly like a cave, the family was not likely destitute by standards of the time.  Mary went to visit Elizabeth when she heard about Elizabeth being pregnant; this occurred at Elizabeth's summer home in the hills.  Elizabeth, who is a relative of the Virgin Mary conceives a child even though she is thought to be barren, and that child is John, who was born about six months before Christ.  Zechariah, who as the head of the family would get to choose the name, decided not to follow convention and name the child after himself or a grandparent, but named him John. John would be the one to provide the face to the old testament as being the voice in the wilderness to proclaim the coming of Jesus.

Statute at Church of the Visitation
Mary visiting Elizabeth

The Church of the Visitation is on the site where John's parents had their summer home, and is also the place where John and Elizabeth hid to protect John from Herod's massacre of the innocents (it is this slaughter that sent the Holy Family into Egypt in order to spare the life of Jesus).  The church contains the stone that covered the cave in which they lived.  John the Baptist is believed to have been born at the family's valley home which is today the site of St John the Baptist Church.

Stone that covered opening of cave in which John and
Elizabeth stayed during the Massacre of the Innocents
Church of the Visitation

Of course, not much is known about John in the intervening years from birth to his mission of baptizing persons in the Jordan, River, including Jesus.  It is thought John lived for a time at Qumran, best known as the site of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  At Qumran,  which is not far from the Dead Sea, there lived an off-brand highly ascetic Jewish sect known as Essenes. They were known for being meticulous in their observance of Jewish law, perhaps more so than the Pharisees.  Pliny notes that the sect numbered about 4,000 total persons.  Having visited the Qumran site in 2013, information at the site tends to the theory that John had, for at least a while, been part of that sect.  The site has a ritual bath for Jewish persons and it is thought some men would come from Jerusalem to Qumran and partake in some of the Essene rituals including the ritual bath. Although this may not be true since the Essene, in some accounts, were not part of normal everyday life of the time and lived in small communities independent of the larger cultural and religious dynamic.  With a ritual bath, the person was "cleansed", so they had strict rules to follow, which Jesus finds rather uncharitable in the story of the Good Samaritan.  If John had been part of the sect, his lifestyle in the scriptures would be understandable.

John the Baptist Spring, Baptismal site of Jesus
Jordan

As I was pondering what I had heard and read about John it occurred to me what did John's parents think of his behavior?  Lucky, he was an only child so no brother or sister needed to explain the weird brother in the family.  Can you imagine this conversation: "What is your brother up to?  Oh, he is living in the desert.  "Living in the desert, what does he eat?"  "Oh, he eats locusts and honey."  He was not from a poor family, and his father was of position in the community, as a priest of the temple, yet he is running around the desert in camel skins and leather for a belt (the gospel accounts make it seem that leather for a belt is a bad thing, when many belts today, particularly good ones, are made of leather); not only that but he ate honey and locusts for his main diet.  Many commentators refer to John as just plain strange.  Fr. Eric Hollis has a thoughtful account of why he thinks people are attracted to John, and what was special about John, which you find here.  It is an interesting read with a good message for all in today's world. 

Part of Dead Sea Scroll at Qumran

Excavation of Essene Community at Qumran

We know that Elizabeth was barren, which seems to be due to her advanced age, so she and Zechariah may not have been living at the time of John's preaching in the desert, at least at the time coterminous with the few years of Jesus's public ministry.  Therefore, they may not have been aware of his bizarre antics and behavior. Would there not have been a more acceptable lifestyle to proclaim the arrival of Jesus' ministry?  Yet, living simply may have been John's way of presaging the Gospel's option for the poor.  After all, Jesus was not a king or lord, or a high ranking government or religious official, but a man from a run of the mill household.  (Although there would have been skepticism over the what the perceived relationship between Jesus'  mother and stepfather.)  John lived a spartan life style in keeping with the gospel that Jesus would preach.  Here was a man descended from Jewish privilege who chose a different path, not for notoriety for himself, but to announce and have preparation for the word spread by Jesus.

Dead Sea
Looking to Jordan from Palestine

The second thought I had, if he were to come to dinner what type of meal would you make for him to eat?  Locusts would not be my food of choice, and I am sure my wife, the farm girl, would not know how to prepare them, much less have live or dead ones in the house.  I doubt she could find a recipe on Pinterest.  Jesus partook in banquets (think the wedding banquet at Cana), so I think that John may not have minded some better food, say squash, grapes, and perhaps some lamb.  And of course, he would probably enjoy wine.  Locusts and honey were likely that which was most available in the desert.  To be safe one would not invite John to dinner, but to live on the edge there may be few more colorful characters in the gospels than John in which to have a dinner conversation.

Possible location where John the Baptist's head is buried, perhaps
one of other locations in the world

In having baptized Jesus, John set himself apart.  Doubtless, his gift to draw attentive listeners was probably ordained from God, but nonetheless he needed to develop a personality during his formative years to allow that gift to shine.  His life would come to abrupt end when he was beheaded, by order of Herod Antipas.  Poor John, not only was he beheaded, but his head is thought to be separated, that is different locations, from his other body parts.  I don't think one could ever say that John compromised his values.

Photos by author from 2013